25th İzmir International Short Film Festival Reveals Competitors for the Golden Cat Awards

Izmir International Short Film Festival

Turkey

The 25th İzmir International Short Film Festival, set to run from November 11 to 17, 2023, has revealed the films that will compete for the prestigious Golden Cat Awards. As one of Turkey’s most significant film festivals, the event is an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival, placing it among an exclusive group of 120 festivals worldwide with this designation.

The festival, supported by institutions such as the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, and the German and French Cultural Centers, offers film enthusiasts a chance to watch over 200 films for free. Screenings will be held at venues throughout İzmir, including the French Cultural Center, Karaca Cinema, and several municipal and university locations.

This year, the festival saw an unprecedented number of submissions, with 4,222 films from 130 countries entered into the competition. These submissions covered a wide range of genres, including fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental films. However, due to insufficient participation, no experimental films will be competing this year. The festival’s organizing committee meticulously reviewed all submissions before finalizing the 32 films that will compete across three major categories: fiction, animation, and documentary.

In the international competition, standout films include Street Light by Romain Dumont, The Voice Of Others by Fatima Kaci, and Porcelain by Annika Birgel. Other notable entries such as There Is No Friend's House by Abbas Taheri and Crust by Jens Kevin Georg will also vie for the Golden Cat Award.

For the national fiction category, films like Mükemmel directed by Ece Dizdar, Neredeyse Kesinlikle Yanlış by Cansu Baydar, and Dilan Hakkında Konuşmalıyız by Umut Şilan Oğurlu have been selected as finalists. The animation category features works like Kim? by Merve Yıldıran and Küçük Yıldız by Esra Becan, while the documentary category includes Haklı Mücadele by Nebiye Arı and İyi Ölüm by Hasan Ete.

The selected films will be screened at various locations throughout the city, including youth-focused screenings at local universities. The festival will also feature numerous networking opportunities for filmmakers and attendees. The full festival program and jury members will be announced in the coming days.

Full List of Finalist Films:

International Finalists:

1. Street Light / Romain Dumont / France
2. The Voice Of Others / Fatima Kaci / France
3. Porcelain / Annika Birgel / Germany
4. There Is No Friend's House / Abbas Taheri / Iran
5. 3MWh- / Marie-Magdalena Kochová / Czech Republic
6. 154 / Andrea Sbarbaro, Riccardo Copreni / Italy
7. Green Eyes / Sacha Teboul / France
8. Short Cut Grass / David Gašo / Slovenia
9. Crust / Jens Kevin Georg / Germany
10. The Hand That Feeds / Helen Hideko / Japan

National Fiction Finalists:

1. Mükemmel / Ece Dizdar
2. Morî / Yakup Tekintangaç
3. Neredeyse Kesinlikle Yanlış / Cansu Baydar
4. Dilan Hakkında Konuşmalıyız / Umut Şilan Oğurlu
5. Bir Aile / Murat Çetinkaya
6. Tavuk Suyuna Çorba / Deniz Büyükkırlı
7. Noksan / Cem Demirer
8. Eksi Bir / Ömer Ferhat Özmen
9. Rehber / Mert Erez
10. Merhaba Anne, Benim, Lou Lou / Atakan Yılmaz
11. Her Derde Deva / Kemal Burak Çuhadar
12. Görüşürüz Kaplumbağa / Selin Öksüzoğlu

National Animation Finalists:

1. Kim? / Merve Yıldıran
2. Echo / Mehveş Topçuoğlu
3. Küçük Yıldız / Esra Becan
4. Cut From The Dead / Elif Dönmez, Deniz Koçyiğit
5. Kaçmandan Çok Korktum / F. Nur Özkaya

National Documentary Finalists:

1. Haklı Mücadele / Nebiye Arı
2. Mimas / Evrim İnci
3. İyi Ölüm / Hasan Ete
4. Otuz Yaşında Öğrendiğim Şeyler / Sezer Ağgez
5. Ufku & Ülviye / Erkan Tahhuşoğlu

The festival continues to draw increasing global attention, with a diverse lineup of films competing for recognition. The winning films will not only receive the coveted Golden Cat Award but may also qualify for submission to the prestigious Academy Awards®.

What You Need to Know:

• The 25th İzmir International Short Film Festival runs from November 11-17, 2023.
• The festival will take place in various venues across İzmir, Turkey.
• It is an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival, offering filmmakers the chance to submit to the Oscars.
• 32 films are competing for the Golden Cat Awards in fiction, animation, and documentary categories.